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[Nzyme32]

Tried mapping them to the back grips for the right touch pad. It's messed up the control scheme. Sure I can fix it somehow. I'm playing purely from the couch so not trying to go any where near a keyboard. There's a steep learning curve with this but when you get things right it's lovely. Will continue to mess around.

Beat an easy AI in coh2, no way I could beat medium at the moment. Need to get the mouse more precise yet move quickly around at the same time. Lovely being able to tap Y to retreat troops or b to revers a tank.

Make sure you are using more of the tip of your thumb than the base. Also when flicking just be fairly lazy about it. I've found gentle flick work really well when having them flow with the movement you are already making, just like scrolling on a smartphone.

What is the source of people's excitement for this? Is it being able to play games that traditionally require a keyboard? Dislike of current controller options? New shiny product hype?

I want to be interested in it, but I'm just not. Steam Link I am all on board for. Hell, the best thing this controller has to offer me is a simple wireless solution (because the 360 controller's wireless is so dumb) but I can achieve that with the PS4 one as well.

Having better movement and aim than dual sticks. Being able to play all the genres of PC game that do not work at all with a normal controller, all from the couch. Flexibility and customisation built into Steam and easily accessible between games, apps etc. Mouse movement for the OS etc

All that's is pretty obvious stuff, but no one is forcing you to get one, its just another option for the people that want it. Use what ever you like but there is no way I'm playing Europa, civ, Deus Ex and other old mouse and keyboard games with a ps4 controller - which is the problem I and many others have had for years hence some excitement. Mouse and keyboard isnt very comfortable in the lounge but it can work. It's up to you really. For a layed back time this Steam Controller is shaping up extremely well for the brief time I've used it. I can see the clear potential in it

I've found many people who have problems with accuracy hold their steam controller like this:



I explain with animation in my guide why this is bad. It will screw with your aim and your ability to make very fine adjustments. The proper way to hold the controller is what I dub "The ballerina method":



Make sure your thumb comes down to a point on the pad, like a ballerina standing on her tip toes. This greatly improves your accuracy.

Couldn't be stated enough - makes a huge difference. Rolling the thumb helps for really fine movements and aiming but I don't know about using that technique against a moving target

 

[Roarer]

So I can't for the life of me get The Binding of Isaac to work. It reverts to some default mapping and no matter what I do, it won't change the bindings. Tried setting it up as keyboard+mouse, controller, changed the inputs etc. Anyone else?

 

[Nzyme32]

I've started getting the weird drifting on the right pad that someone on twitter was talking about.

Do as it told you, open BPM. It will prompt to update the firmware. That fixed it for me immediately. Also restart the computer if windows tells you - my controller wouldn't detect at first till I did that

 

[RealityCheque]

I've started getting the weird drifting on the right pad that someone on twitter was talking about.

Did you update its firmware when you first installed it?

I had the same thing, new FW fixed it.

 

[Nzyme32]

So I can't for the life of me get The Binding of Isaac to work. It reverts to some default mapping and no matter what I do, it won't change the bindings. Tried setting it up as keyboard+mouse, controller, changed the inputs etc. Anyone else?

I'll test this now.

 

[bequietdrive]

Saw a couple of people from Europe getting there's early, I'm guessing the best bet to get pre November is just to order from the US?

 

[Krejlooc]

So I can't for the life of me get The Binding of Isaac to work. It reverts to some default mapping and no matter what I do, it won't change the bindings. Tried setting it up as keyboard+mouse, controller, changed the inputs etc. Anyone else?

This is a known bug, some games are like this. All DosBox games will do the same thing, too.

Tembo the badass elephant doesn't work at all, regardless of which mode the controller is.

I have a long list of bugs.

EDIT: Despite this being known, still report it.

 

[r3n4ud]

This is a known bug, some games are like this. All DosBox games will do the same thing, too.

Tembo the badass elephant doesn't work at all, regardless of which mode the controller is.

I have a long list of bugs.

EDIT: Despite this being known, still report it.

Christ man, you're super helpful <3

 

[digitalrelic]

What is the source of people's excitement for this? Is it being able to play games that traditionally require a keyboard? Dislike of current controller options? New shiny product hype?

I want to be interested in it, but I'm just not. Steam Link I am all on board for. Hell, the best thing this controller has to offer me is a simple wireless solution (because the 360 controller's wireless is so dumb) but I can achieve that with the PS4 one as well.

For me, a few things:

1. The ability to play games from my couch that traditionally require a kb/m. I'm looking forward to playing Cities: Skylines, Guild Wars 2, Divinity: Original Sin, This War of Mine, etc..

2. The strong possibility that this controller will be better for FPS games than a traditional analog stick controller. I've (stupidly) tried to play and compete in games like Battlefield 4 and Borderlands with other PC gamer friends using a traditional controller, and it's been a challenge to say the least. If this controller can bring me a bit closer to the accuracy and speed of a kb/m setup, which I think it will, then it will be worth the investment.

3. It's nice to have a controller that can double as a mouse cursor to do some basic web browsing without having to whip out a keyboard a mouse from my couch.

 

[Interfectum]

Krej has been a godsend for Steam Controller info. <3

 

[fluffydelusions]

Anyone have luck with gamestop?

 

[Wiseblood]

I'm liking it so far, but I'm not really digging the analog stick emulation on the right touchpad at all. For proper gamepad games I think I'll stick with the XBox controller.

 

[RealityCheque]

The issue of non-steam games having no community bindings available probably isn't going to be solved overnight. Almost all of my uplay games are an issue so far.

I'm wondering what people would think of a temporary solution. A thread dedicated to sharing bindings for non-steam games? We could use screenshots (or just phone pics) of the controller config screens and/or use a standard text template eg Right Pad, = Left Pad =.

Temporary solution and kind of a pain in the ass but Valve probably has this someway down their list of priorities so it could be a decent stopgap. Any thoughts?

 

[hepburn3d]

Can't seem to map a button to / is this a known issue? Won't highlight green

Edit:

There are 2 / options. The one in the right fixed this

 

[Nzyme32]

Right so I'm having an issue with the dpad - although I'm not sure why this has happened

Basically I thought it was broken because pressing in at the centre make downward movement with the default deadzone - but it turns out the deadzone centre is above that of the indentation that the dpad has.

This is ridiculously confusing. It plays wonderfully if I use this area about 1 cm above the centre of the pad, otherwise its obviously uncontrollable moving downward.

I can't see a way to fix this... So is it a bug or is it something only occurring with my controller or is this something specific to binding of Issac?

Edit - just tried shovel Knight which works well, seems to be an issue with binding of Issac or the gamepad template

 

[Unicorn]

Looks glorious. Hesitantly optimistic. Still afraid to bite.

 

[Krejlooc]

I'm liking it so far, but I'm not really digging the analog stick emulation on the right touchpad at all. For proper gamepad games I think I'll stick with the XBox controller.

I don't like using the right touchpad as an analog stick at all, although "joystick camera" is slightly better than "generic gamepad."

If a game doesn't support gamepad + mouse, valve is defaulting the "recommended" config to joystick camera or generic gamepad (assuming they work) because button prompts will match. And, I get the mentality, and presumably, as time goes on and more profiles fill out, this will change. It's sort of a stop gap method ATM.

but using analog stick emulation doesn't play up the controllers strength at all. You wind up with a controller that just feels like a worse version of the dual shock or xbox pad. I much prefer setting up KBM to mimic a gamepad and just dealing with mismatched onscreen prompts, rather than dealing with analog stick emulation.

That said - you can do some really neat things with analog stick emulation. I have an axiom verge mapping that uses generic gamepad, but maps the deadzone to just 1 pixel beyond the max, and treats the gamepad like a giant jump button. What this does, is lets me use the right pad as a button, but treat the outer edge of the pad as 4 separate touch-activated buttons to select my weapon.

Also, there is a work around for mismatched button prompts - you can set up a game to use KBM and have the prompts on screen match, but it's much more involved to set up, and you can't really share your controller configuration that way. I'll go into more detail about it in my guide.

 

[JoeyJungle]

So I just got it - Is the back supposed to be flush after putting the batteries in? I know that the back clicks in where your fingertips rest, but I'm not sure if there's actually supposed to be a gap between the body and the sides of the back cover.

 

[Nzyme32]

I'm liking it so far, but I'm not really digging the analog stick emulation on the right touchpad at all. For proper gamepad games I think I'll stick with the XBox controller.

"Joystick aim" is basically a Dynamic analgue stick where the deadzone moves based on your first input. This works great vs the standard analogue central deadzone only, at least in my opinion

 

[Krejlooc]

The issue of non-steam games having no community bindings available probably isn't going to be solved overnight. Almost all of my uplay games are an issue so far.

I'm wondering what people would think of a temporary solution. A thread dedicated to sharing bindings for non-steam games? We could use screenshots (or just phone pics) of the controller config screens and/or use a standard text template eg Right Pad, = Left Pad =.

Temporary solution and kind of a pain in the ass but Valve probably has this someway down their list of priorities so it could be a decent stopgap. Any thoughts?

That is what I've been doing. Again, I floated the idea of importing and exporting controller schemes to Adrian Finol, and his response was "not yet" rather than "nope" so, maybe, cross your fingers, this is something that'll be coming? It's something they could actually use on their end, too.

No promises, of course.

 

[Drama Zed Nod]

It begins

 

[Roarer]

This is a known bug, some games are like this. All DosBox games will do the same thing, too.

Tembo the badass elephant doesn't work at all, regardless of which mode the controller is.

I have a long list of bugs.

EDIT: Despite this being known, still report it.

Thanks!

Is there any way to bring up the keyboard in Windows? Trying to do some browsing with the Steam Controller and it's not working very well so far. Tried adding Chrome as a shortcut in Steam, but pressing the Steam button won't bring up the overlay. Exiting BPM and controlling the OS doesn't work either...

So far I'm actually a bit disappointed with the controller. The haptics are barely noticable, even when cranked up high and using the dpad has been a nightmare so far. Trying to control a third person camera has been pretty clunky as well. The configuration options are overwhelmingly dense and obscure, and the community created settings aren't up to scratch yet. I'm sure that will get fixed in the coming months and hopefully I'll get used to the feel of the controller as well...

 

[Krejlooc]

So I just got it - Is the back supposed to be flush after putting the batteries in? I know that the back clicks in where your fingertips rest, but I'm not sure if there's actually supposed to be a gap between the body and the sides of the back cover.

Very slight gap, like maybe just small enough to fit a paperclip into.

 

[tim.mbp]

Valve really hides the USB cable and extender well. At first I thought mine were missing.

Edit: I assume opting into the beta Steam client is recommended.

 

[Krejlooc]

Right so I'm having an issue with the dpad - although I'm not sure why this has happened

Basically I thought it was broken because pressing in at the centre make downward movement with the default deadzone - but it turns out the deadzone centre is above that of the indentation that the dpad has.

This is ridiculously confusing. It plays wonderfully if I use this area about 1 cm above the centre of the pad, otherwise its obviously uncontrollable moving downward.

I can't see a way to fix this... So is it a bug or is it something only occurring with my controller or is this something specific to binding of Issac?

Edit - just tried shovel Knight which works well, seems to be an issue with binding of Issac or the gamepad template

Binding of Issac is bugged, but I hadn't noticed that specific quirk. Like I said, send a report, and be detailed. I simply told them the mappings didn't take.

 

[Dreathlock]

Where do you configure the Mapping? Cant find it in the options.

 

[Nzyme32]

Valve really hides the USB cable and extender well. At first I thought mine were missing.

Not sure I'd anyone else has this issue but the extenders USB socket is extremely tight on mine. I was worried I'd break whatever I plugged in. Works fine though

 

[JoeyJungle]

Valve really hides the USB cable and extender well. At first I thought mine were missing.

Thanks! That's what mine looks like!

Very slight gap, like maybe just small enough to fit a paperclip into.

Wow! I was just thinking it was weird they didn't include any cables. Good catch!

 

[Nzyme32]

Where do you configure the Mapping? Cant find it in the options.

Guide > left hand sidebar, configure controller > access templates and community stuff by pressing x

 

[ashecitism]

Where do you configure the Mapping? Cant find it in the options.

Guide > left hand sidebar, configure controller > access templates and community stuff by pressing x

And you need to be in BPM

 

[Krejlooc]

Is there any way to bring up the keyboard in Windows? Trying to do some browsing with the Steam Controller and it's not working very well so far. Tried adding Chrome as a shortcut in Steam, but pressing the Steam button won't bring up the overlay. Exiting BPM and controlling the OS doesn't work either...

Yeah I noted this and it's really frustrating. It used to be I could bring up BPM overlay on top of firefox like maybe a year ago, but no more. It won't follow any web browser, no matter how I try to hide what it is. It seems like a quirk they've specifically implimented. I don't like using the BPM browser, so it's disappointing.

My work around is to use the built-in windows on screen keyboard. In Windows 10, it actually has an icon on the taskbar, but you can add it to your start bar in every windows since XP. It's usually under start -> accessories -> ease of use -> on-screen keyboard. Just drag a copy to your taskbar and use it as a shortcut.

 

[Krejlooc]

Edit: I assume opting into the beta Steam client is recommended.

Yes, for all intent and purposes, this is just a wide public beta. You need to be opted into the latest steam client beta.

I think valve's goal at the moment is getting a thousand monkeys at typewriters to fill in the profiles and report bugs leading up to the november 10th full release.

 

[Nzyme32]

Back plus guide is the shortcut for bringing up the keyboard in game / bpm

 

[JoeyJungle]

How do you turn off the controller?

 

[Krejlooc]

Back plus guide is the shortcut for bringing up the keyboard in game / bpm

It doesn't work on things that BPM doesn't follow, like webbrowsers, unfortunately.

How do you turn off the controller?

Hold the center button for about 10 seconds until it beeps and turns off.

 

[mattiewheels]

Can't wait to see how playable Witcher 1 is on my TV tonight.

 

[ashecitism]

How do you turn off the controller?

Adding to what Krejlooc said you can also do it where you quit BPM or shut down the PC. Or it can auto shut off. There's a setting for that somewhere.

 

[Nzyme32]

How do you turn off the controller?

Holding the guide for a second brings up a menu that let's you turn it off or do some other stuff

 

[Dreathlock]

Guide > left hand sidebar, configure controller > access templates and community stuff by pressing x

What do you mean with guide? I only have shop, library etc. There is nothing in the oprions. Horrible experience to get started. No idea how to configure this thing at all.

 

[JoeyJungle]

Hold the center button for about 10 seconds until it beeps and turns off.

Adding to what Krejlooc said you can also do it where you quit BPM or shut down the PC. Or it can auto shut off. There's a setting for that somewhere.

Holding the guide for a second brings up a menu that let's you turn it off or do some other stuff

Thanks!

Can't wait to see how playable Witcher 1 is on my TV tonight.

I've been putting off playing the Witcher trilogy for a long time, I'm super psyched to do the same thing! Pillars of Eternity is going to be great as well! Not to mention Civ and EU4. And Broken Age too! Man I can't wait to be done with work, this is practically like getting a new console.

 

[Red]

What do you mean with guide? I only have shop, library etc. There is nothing in the oprions. Horrible experience to get started. No idea how to configure this thing at all.

Hit the Steam button when you're in a game

 

[mattiewheels]

Oh, and the new Deus Ex mod! It's like it was made to put this new controller through the paces. Let's see how the UI works on a TV, though.

 

[Krejlooc]

What do you mean with guide? I only have shop, library etc. There is nothing in the oprions. Horrible experience to get started. No idea how to configure this thing at all.

first up, opt into the latest steam client beta.

When you go to launch a game, you get this menu:

On the left side of the screen, under "your game" you'll find "manage game." Going to "manage game" brings up a bunch of options, one of
which is "Configure controller' under preferences.

When you are in-game, pressing the center button on the steam controller (the one with the big steam icon, that is in the location where the "X" button on an xbox 360 pad is, or the "PS" button a playstation controller is) will bring up this menu. Again, you'll have options on the left side of the screen, Under "manage game" is "configure controller."

 

[Nzyme32]

The dpad is really great when you turn up the haptics to medium or high. The feedback frim every button input as you roll your thumb is so helpful. I had to go back to the ds3 to check, but so often with that, you get no input or feeling of change since the dpad is one solid piece of plastic and stays flush as you move from left to down. All you have is the change in indentation but there is no feeling if a press/depress so it doesn't feel as good as the Steam Controller is right now, even though it has the opposite issue where the indentations on that pad can barely be felt, but the haptics back them up.

It's still feels odd even though I'm having no issue using it as a dpad. Gonna try a fighting game later but the clickyness of the pad might be an issue for rapid clicks.

 

[hepburn3d]

If I set haptic feedback to high on the analogue stick with wasd assigned to it it gets stuck on left. Could be bug

 

[Nymerio]

Tried a couple of games today. It absolutely takes some time to get used to. Some config stuff needs some graphical representation. Like when you adjust deadzones or the settings when you're using the touch pad as button diamond. You should see where the buttons, deadzones etc. actually are on the controller, as it is now it's pretty much trial and error.

I'm actually really happy with the controller so far. I'd recommend Assault Android Cactus if you want to get used to the controller. It uses both trackpads as joystick inputs and the right grip as fire button.

 

[Krejlooc]

The dpad is really great when you turn up the haptics to medium or high. The feedback frim every button input as you roll your thumb is so helpful. I had to go back to the ds3 to check, but so often with that, you get no input or feeling of change since the dpad is one solid piece of plastic and stays flush as you move from left to down. All you have is the change in indentation but there is no feeling if a press/depress so it doesn't feel as good as the Steam Controller is right now, even though it has the opposite issue where the indentations on that pad can barely be felt, but the haptics back them up.

It's still feels odd even though I'm having no issue using it as a dpad. Gonna try a fighting game later but the clickyness of the pad might be an issue for rapid clicks.

If you turn the feedback up to high, and hold in a cardinal direction (say, right), then rock your thumb down, you can actually feel when you "click" the down direction, resulting in diagonally down-right. Its so cool to do - you can rock back and forth and feel it clicking on and off. It really feels like you're actually depressing a second microswitch, even though it's all in your head. There is no second microswitch. The pad just fools you into feeling one.

That simple piece of tactile feedback dramatically changes the controller. This is what I've been talking about for years now when I said you can feel the pad shifting thanks to haptics. This is something that was missing in the old prototypes unless you actually played with the API.

It's probably the most impressive thing about the controller, IMO, and my favorite little nerdy bit of tech inside of it. It's so awesome and feels so right that probably 99% of people will never even notice it's being done - because when something is done right, it seems like nothing is being done at all.

 

[Krejlooc]

If I set haptic feedback to high on the analogue stick with wasd assigned to it it gets stuck on left. Could be bug

stuck on left? Like, it keeps throwing 'a'? Which game specifically?

Be sure to fill out a bug report, and be detailed.

 

[vermadas]

Got mine this morning. Have only tried a couple games so far: Witcher 3 (what I'm currently playing through) and Ziggurat to test a FPS.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the controller. My thoughts:

- Kind of underwhelmed with the strength of the haptics. As Krej recommended, the highest setting feels best.

- Tried using the left pad for movement in the Witcher with the analog stick setting. Despite having an option for haptics they would not work in this mode.

- I played with the IMU in Ziggurat. First of all, if not for Krej's posts I would have no idea where the config for it is. A blank box underneath the controller isn't very descriptive, and when you pull up the configuration options it looks almost identical to the pad config. I'm sure this will improve.

- At first I didn't think the IMU was working. Then I realized it defaulted to only be in use when the right pad was touched. Once I figured that out, the default seemed like a pretty good idea. I went back into the IMU config and turned the sensitivity down. This let me use the pad for larger movements and the IMU for minute adjustments - and it felt extremely good.

- Is there a way to save your own templates?

Looking forward to spending more time with it this weekend!

 

[BjornTheBear]

I've found many people who have problems with accuracy hold their steam controller like this:



I explain with animation in my guide why this is bad. It will screw with your aim and your ability to make very fine adjustments. The proper way to hold the controller is what I dub "The ballerina method":



Make sure your thumb comes down to a point on the pad, like a ballerina standing on her tip toes. This greatly improves your accuracy.

Thanks.

That doesn't look very comfortable tho.